There's Such A Sad Love
by Sync-chronize
Summary: Barely a week after first encountering the Labyrinth, young Sarah has forgotten everything, as if in a dream, and continues to wish she was elsewhere, doing something else. After irresponsibly making yet another wish to the Goblin King, her friend, Hoggle, suddenly arrives, and lures her back into the Labyrinth. Will Sarah manage to escape, or will things be different this time?
1. Chapter 1 - The Return of Hoggle

**Author's Note : Hello everyone, it's nice to (meet?) you! I'm new on here, at least on this specific account, and although I _have_ written fanfictions before, I'm kind of rusty, so please forgive any grammar mistakes, etc. Also, I am currently looking for a beta reader, so if anyone's got the time and is willing to do it, I'd love to talk about it and see what we can sort out. I'm also hiring myself out as a beta reader as well, so, again, we can talk about it. ^^**

 **Anyways, this is my first fanfiction on this new account, and I'm _super_ excited to get started and see what you guys think of it! Now, I know that, recently, a lot of tribute has been paid to David Bowie (R.I.P., you're awesome!) due to his recent death, and I just thought that I could contribute as well for my first fanfiction. Now, usually, I support the "weirder" couples, especially non-canon ones, and will be writing about those, but, for this story, I'll do an _almost_ canon couple that was actually implied (several times).**

 **Now, before anyone gets any ideas about the title of the story implying angst and whatnot, it actually doesn't—or, at least not _chiefly_. The words are just the very first ones in David Bowie's song, "As the World Falls Down", from the original _Labyrinth_. It's my favourite song of David Bowie's, so I decided to pay homage to it as well.**

 **The romance, as I'm sure you've definitely guessed, will be between Jareth and Sarah, but I make it a point never to make romance the main focus of my stories. It will be present and prominent, yes, but please remember that it's not everything.**

 **Also, and this is very important, I think I should explain that my timeline for the story will be a little different than that in the original film. Essentially, I'm going to use the "it was all a dream" angle, and just have Sarah wake up the next morning with no memory of what happened. The story will start a week after Sarah experienced everything she did in the movie _._**

 **Well, with all the (prolonged but necessary) introductions out of the way, let's get started!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – The Return of Hoggle**

There were many things that a teenager like Sarah Williams could choose to be doing on a rainy Saturday in April while staying indoors. Most of these things, hopefully, involved Sarah minding her own business and not causing anybody any trouble. Unfortunately though, _trouble_ had a way of finding _Sarah_.

Once seated on the window seat of her parents' living room, cozy with a mug of hot cocoa and a copy of her favourite book of all time, _The Labyrinth_ , she was just preparing to delve into the first chapter yet again, having finished it the previous week and eager to read it again. For some reason or other, the book kept drawing her to it, almost as though she was supposed to memorize its very lines. She had, at some point, memorized the climactic ending of the novel, in which the heroine bravely defied the Goblin King in order to escape his castle, but still couldn't remember the precise lines. This bothered her, and so she was determined to get all of the lines done right.

 _Perhaps_ , she thought, _what I'm lacking is knowledge of detail._

"Sarah!" Irene Williams, Sarah's "evil stepmother" called out from the kitchen.

Groaning, Sarah shut her book, propping it up on her knees. "What?"

"I need you to come help me with something! Do you think you could whip up the icing for the cake?"

"'Do you think you could whip up the icing for the cake?'" Sarah mimicked, carefully setting her book aside as she stood up, leaving her comfortable and poetic position behind. Stomping over to the kitchen, she made clear her disapproval of being interrupted, but her stepmother didn't even seem to notice.

"The ingredients are over there by the sink. Oh, hurry, Sarah! We've only got three hours until the Millers get here, and I still need to wash my hair!"

"Why don't you give it to me? I'll wash it for you," Sarah offered, heading towards the large bowl.

Irene glared at Sarah out of the corner of her eye, but otherwise didn't say anything. If Sarah had even an inkling of love or respect for her stepmother, she would have felt sorry when, just about three days ago, when Irene and Sarah's father, Robert, went out to dinner at the Graham's, six-year-old twins Betty and Grady Graham had thought to play a brilliant joke and stuck gum piece after gum piece after gum piece in Irene's hair while she was sitting down to dinner and didn't notice. By the time that Roger, the twins' older brother, actually noticed them sniggering behind Irene's chair, it was too late to do anything about it, and Irene had to get a severely short haircut. Now, more or less, her real hair resembled a buzz cut, and she'd had to purchase a real-hair wig to resemble her own hair so that no one would notice the difference. Sarah had thought that it was hilarious at the time, grinning boldly, but couldn't help wondering at the irony of the whole thing. Just earlier that day, when she had yet _again_ to babysit her baby half-brother, Toby, she had gotten mad at Irene and wished in her mind that something bad to happen to her to prevent her from ever going out and leaving Sarah alone with the baby ever again. And then, something _had_ happened, and for two whole days until getting the wig, Irene hadn't left the house.

That still didn't keep her from actually _hosting_ parties now that she had the wig on though, so it didn't matter in the end, and Sarah _still_ had to help out whether she wanted to or not.

About ten minutes later, after Sarah's unkind comment, the teenage girl was finally done whipping the whipped cream, and ready to get back to her novel. Just then though, Irene called out after her, reluctantly handing Sarah her wig, as though it were a precious treasure.

"Well, since you offered," she said smugly, a reply to Sarah's earlier comment.

Biting her tongue to keep from saying anything back, knowing that it would only get her into deeper trouble and more chores, Sarah stomped upstairs and into her parents' bathroom, there turning on the sink and taking out the special shampoo that the wig required.

"This is awful!" she moaned, talking her to herself, as had become a habit. "A princess like me shouldn't have to be doing awful chores like this! It's that _stepmother_ that's to blame, that evil stepmother! She's afraid that I'll do something bad, isn't she, that I'm more beautiful than she is, and more perfect? Ha! I bet she's going to give me a poisoned apple next, and poison me for a hundred years!...And then, I will only be able to wake up with a kiss from my true love, and then we'll live happily ever after!" Sighing romantically, Sarah tried her best to picture herself adorned with a beautiful gown and lying down on a bed of roses instead of dressed in casual attire in her parents' bathroom, scrubbing away at that horrid wig.

"It's not fair! It's just not fair!" she whined over and over again, scrubbing harder than necessary and taking out a few hairs of the original netting in the process. But she didn't care; she was angry. After all, when the Millers came over, them and their stuck-up daughter, Angela, she'd have to stay downstairs and make "polite conversation" instead of being where she really wanted to be, reading her book. That would be even worse than having to clean out the cinders from the fireplace or something, because then, at least she'd be doing something romantic, like Cinderella! But no, for poor, ordinary Sarah Williams, _normal_ , _dull_ , and _boring_ were the only options.

"Sometimes I wish I could just run away. Yes…that's it. I wish I could run away from home!" she cried out, her cheeks puffed out with indignation. Then, coming upon inspiration, yet again from that book, she felt a small tingle in her spine and threw her head back, yelling: "Goblin King, Goblin King, listen, hear my call! I want to run away from home, and never come back at all!"

There was a flash of lightning and then a clap of thunder outside, and suddenly the lights went out all through the house. The bathroom window burst open and rain poured in, but luckily only wet the floor a little before Sarah stumbled over and closed it. Brushing herself off, she waited until the noises of her parents downstairs (and Toby's crying) subsided, and then went back to the sink to wait until the lights came back on. When they finally did a few minutes later, she heard her father call up to see if she was alright.

 _No, I'm horrible because my horrible stepmother is making me wash her horrible wig and do other horrible chores_ , Sarah wanted to respond, but instead she said, "Yeah, I'm okay!"

Closing the door to the bathroom and locking it, because she wanted to be alone, Sarah ignored the wig and went over to sit on the edge of the bathtub, wanting nothing more than to ignore the rest of her current life and circumstances, to be elsewhere.

She was just preparing to climb into the bathtub and fall asleep or something, when suddenly, strangely, she felt a lump already there, where she was almost certain it shouldn't be.

"Hey, watch it, will you?!" grunted a grumpy voice.

Sarah gasped and sprang up from her seat, slipping on the slipper tile floor and bumping her head against the sink. "Ow!" she cried out, already beginning to feel a lump form at the back of her head. Her attention was elsewhere though as she noticed, from inside the bathtub, holding onto the curtains to steady himself, stood a small, dwarf like person, quite dirty, and wearing a leather cap, white blouse, vest, patched trousers, and black shoes. Once on his feet, he stared out at her through steely blue eyes, his face quite ugly and wrinkled. "Well, what're you staring at?!" he demanded, as though it was quite rude to do so.

"W-who are you?" Sarah asked, scared by also curious.

"The name's Hoggle, as if you didn't already know," the dwarf replied rather indignantly.

"Uh…no."

He raised a bushy brown eyebrow. "What? Are you serious? Barely a week has passed!"

"I'm…sorry, but I have no idea who…or _what_ you are," Sarah replied.

Hoggle sighed heavily. "I'm Hoggle, a dwarf! And you're Sarah, but you don't remember me?"

"No, sorry." Sarah wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but she did know that there were better things she could have dreamed up, if this was truly a dream. Standing up, she found that Hoggle was actually quite shorter than he was, although if the height difference bothered him, he didn't mention it.

"You're very short, aren't you?" Sarah asked.

"I'm a dwarf; 'course I'm short!" Hoggle exclaimed. "And what about you? How come you don't remember who I am? We're close friends!"

"We are?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Don't you remember that—?" But then, suddenly he stopped, for no reason that Sarah could see, and a misty look came over his eyes, almost as though he wasn't really seeing her at all. After a few moments of silence, in which Sarah considered poking him, just to see if h was real or imaginary, he finally came to again with a little shudder, and regarded her curiously. "Er, what did you call me here for?" he asked.

Sarah stayed rooted to the spot, still very confused. "I…called you? No, I didn't; why would I?"

Hoggle shrugged. "I don't know if you don't know but…say, did you say anything serious before I came here? Just a bit before, maybe?"

Sarah nodded, recalling. "Yes, I said 'Goblin King Goblin King'—"

"Woah, woah, wait a minute! Are you telling me that you called on _the Goblin King_ to help you? After what he—?"

"He what?"

"Er…nevermind that, the point is that you called the Goblin King, right? What did you ask him to do?"

"I asked him to help me run away. I want to run away from home, because my stepmother's being just awful!"

Hoggle sighed heavily. "Oh no, why would you go and do a thing like that for?! And after all you went through to—"

"To what? Hogwart, you're not making any sense," Sarah accused.

"Of course I'm not! And it's _Hoggle_!" the dwarf exclaimed. "It's all cause of _him_ , cursing me so I can't say a word against him! But oh, I've got plenty of things I'm still _thinking_ though, and that's good enough!"

"Who's 'he'?"

"The Goblin King, of course! Jareth, the Goblin King! Don't you even remember him?"

Sarah shook her head. "Not at all. But wait, what's this about a curse?"

Hoggle grunted. "Like I said he's put a curse on me so I can't speak my own mind if it's against him. Every time I try to say anything to anyone against him, I get cut right off and can't say what I was going to say. It gets very annoying when you're trying to warn someone and all, but oh well, I guess there are worse things he could've done."

"Like what?"

"Oh, like making me go to the Bog of Eternal Stench again, like that time—Well, anyway, there are worse things. As you can see, I'm still ok for now, so don't worry about it."

Sarah shook her head. "How can I _not_ worry about it? If you're under a curse, Hogwart, I think that I could help break it. It's the least I can do to…well, to get away from _here_ , anyway." Because, in a way, whether it was the Goblin King she had called on or not, Sarah found herself strangely companionable with Hoggle, who in her opinion made _way_ better conversation than anyone she knew.

Hoggle shook his head. "It's Hoggle, and no, it wouldn't be right getting you involved. Er…I just still don't know why I was called here in the first place. I'm not Jareth's 'errand dwarf' or anything, am I? Oh well, if that's the way it is…" And in this way he continued mumbling to himself, until Sarah interrupted him by touching his shoulder.

"Look, here's what we can do," she said, crouching down so that they were eye-level. "You can take me away from here for just a while, until we find a way to break your curse, and then once we're done, if you really want, you can bring me back, ok? That way, we'll both get what we want, even if you're not the Goblin King who grants my wishes."

Hoggle blinked. "You'd…do that for me?"

Sarah smiled and nodded.

"N-no, i-it wouldn't be right! After all that's…But wait, maybe Jareth doesn't have to know about this! I know all his tricks and…" Again he proceeded to mumble to himself, finally coming to a stop and glancing at Sarah from underneath thick eyelashes. "Alright," he agreed.

"Really?" Sarah enthused, smiling.

Hoggle nodded. "Yeah, but only so long as you stay quiet and listen to everything I say exactly as I say. If I'm going to bring you back here, I need to keep you safe, right?"

"Right," Sarah nodded, although she wouldn't mind a bit of danger so long as she could overcome it.

"Right. Well then, let's go," Hoggle said.

"Where?"

He looked at her incredulously, and then pointed downwards. "Down the drainpipe, of course!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hi, me again! Heehee, I hope you liked the first chapter to my first _Labyrinth_ fanfiction, and I hope that it wasn't anything too boring to get through. I know, I know, David Bowie as Jareth is all that we really want to see, but hopefully we can all be patient enough for him to make a spectacular entrance? ^^'**

 **Anyways, if you liked the story, please review, follow, or even favourite (if you think you like it so much already!)**

 **Oh, and P.S., as for a cover image, I'll try to upload one soon, but the website says I need to wait a bit since I'm a new member and all, so I'll just make sure to let you know when I have one chosen and whatnot. Thank you so much for reading this far!**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Goblin King's Labyrinth

**Author's Note : Ok, so I'm updating my second chapter a little early, but I hope that won't be a problem since it just means moving through the story a lot faster, right? I'm still looking for beta reader connections, although, of course, since it's been such a short time since I've updated the first time, maybe that's obvious.** **Anyways, I just wanted to take the chance to thank this fanfiction's first three followers, cchimp123, HaruRyu, and ; and to hope that it'll get more follows/favourites/reviews soon. All stories could use a little love, don't you think?**

 **Oh, and as for updating this quickly, I don't** _ **usually**_ **, although I do** _ **try**_ **to. Real life just gets in the same sometimes, agreed? Regardless, I'll try my best, and, as a hint, I absolutely love reviews, so they'll definitely be a keen motivator.~**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – The Goblin King's Labyrinth**

There was _no_ way, in the name of all that was good and pure and romantic, that Sarah was going down the drainpipe to the bathtub. Not only was it disgusting, stinky, and dirty, but how on earth was she supposed to fit down there in the first place?

"Uh…yeah, I don't think I can go that way," she said, as Hoggle continued pointing downwards, as though expecting her to "do the honours" and go first.

Hoggle raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

Sarah looked at him in surprise. "I'm too big?"

Hoggle sighed heavily, as though Sarah was willing something obvious. "Well, how do you think I got up here in the first place?"

"The window?" It had blown open before Sarah closed it, after all.

"No!" Hoggle moaned, pointing down again. "Through the drainpipe! It stretches; it's magical!"

"Well…alright, if you say so," Sarah said after a moment of consideration. After all, going down a drainpipe, disgusting as it may be, would certainly be better than cleaning her stepmother's wig for the afternoon and then attending a party she didn't want to attend in the evening.

Stepping into the bathtub, she peered down the drainpipe before looking at Hoggle. "You can't go ahead of me? To catch me once I fall?"

"What good would these arms do?" Hoggle asked, stretching them no wider than half a metre.

Sarah nodded. "I guess you're right. Alright then, here I go, Hogwart."

"It's _Hoggle_!" the dwarf yelled after her, but Sarah was already on her way down.

What had first felt like an extraordinary leap of faith turned out to be the right decision in the end, as Sarah fell down through the drainpipe, neither getting dirty nor smelling anything particularly awful. As she fell deeper and deeper though, she began going faster and faster, until she could feel the air whooshing through her ears.

"Hogwart, where are you?!" she called up, hearing some sliding sounds up above that she presumed to be the dwarf.

"Right behind you!" he called down.

"How long will we—?" But Sarah's question was answered directly the next minute as she shot horizontally out of the tube, as though it was a slide, and landed face up, skidding to a stop on a sandy surface.

"Hogwart!" she called, gazing in shock around her as she found herself in an entirely new landscape that should definitely _not_ be under her house. The sky was grayish orange, there was no vegetation around like any back home, and the air felt thick and musky, almost as though there was mold growing nearby. "Hogwart!" she called again upon receiving no answer.

There came a muffled exclamation from somewhere nearby, and Sarah turned to find Hoggle's feet and bottom sticking out from beneath the sand. Sarah grabbed hold of each of the dwarf's stubby legs, and grunting, pulled him up out of the sand. Couching the gritty stuff out, Hoggle regarded Sarah with annoyance. "It's _Hoggle_! You'd think you'd have gotten it right by now."

"I'm sorry," Sarah said, sitting back while the dwarf brushed himself off.

"Well, sorry doesn't make me feel any better about it, now does it?"

Sarah bit her bottom lip. "Alright. I'm sorry, _Hoggle_."

The dwarf perked up, pausing as he brushed the sand from his left arm. "Well now, that's better," he remarked, standing up.

Sarah did likewise, again studying their surroundings. "Where are we?" she asked.

"Just outside the labyrinth," Hoggle replied, unconcerned. "That's where we'll find all our answers."

"The labyrinth?" Sarah clarified. "But what will we find in there?"

"Lots of things," Hoggle said, gesturing her to follow him as he headed towards the entrance. "The labyrinth's got lots of twists and turns and places and people. If we take the right turns and end up in the right places and find the right people, maybe we'll find a way to break this curse."

"If you know it so well, then why couldn't you break the curse yourself until now?" Sarah asked, skeptical, though not at all complaining that Hoggle had brought her to the labyrinth in the first place.

Hoggle sighed, pausing to sit down on a nearby rock while he explained. "Well, you see, no one really talks to me anymore. After what I did last time, w-with Jareth, not a lot of people like poor, traitorous Hoggle anymore. And t-the goblins, they're in charge around here, so they make sure that no one gets too close to me, either. I've been separated from my only real friends, and now I'm alone. Except for you, of course, but they won't be expecting that you've come back. That way, we've got the element of surprise, and we can find the right places and people to talk to if I have you along. I think…they'll talk to you and give you the answers faster than they would be."

Sarah glanced towards the labyrinth again. "What makes you so sure?"

Hoggle shut his eyes tightly. "Well, we're friends, aren't we?" he asked hopefully. Sarah smiled, nodding. "Then, that's all I really need. Friendship counts for a lot once we get in there, Sarah; you just wait and see."

"Are we going, then?"

"Yeah, I guess we can't hold it off any longer. Let's go." And so, Hoggle started to lead the way towards the labyrinth, stopping abruptly barely a second later, and almost knocking Sarah off her feet as she tried to avoid tripping over him. "Oh, and one more thing, before I forget! Whatever happens, there are two things you must remember: one, we've got to stay away from the goblin castle at all costs; and two, you're never to mention the Goblin King _at all_ once we get in there."

Sarah nodded, understanding. "But why?"

"Because then we'll both be in serious trouble, and you don't want that," Hoggle said, remembering the last time. Sarah, however, not remembering at all, could only nod and trust in Hoggle's instinct. Little did she know how much she would come to depend on the dwarf's advice later on.

* * *

There were many things that Jareth, the Goblin King, did to occupy his time during the day. Actually, for that matter, there were many things that he also did to entertain himself during the night, for he rarely ever slept. After all, he was the Goblin King, and thus, all-powerful. He couldn't have his subjects looking down on him just because of a small detail like personal _rest_. It just wasn't acceptable.

From dawn to noon every day, he made plans and sometimes sought out his subjects' complaints. Really though, this was all for show, because Jareth couldn't care less about what his miniscule goblin subjects thought of him. No, on the contrary, instead the only thing he cared about was hearing about how generally _great_ he was, which was really all that these hours consisted of. After breakfast and a planning season for the day's events—which would usually take a maximum of two hours, never more—Jareth would ascend to his throne room, take a seat on his throne, and listen as, one by one, his subjects would come forward, bow down, and give him either interesting news about his kingdom, plead for mercy, or just in general indulge him with compliments about what a great king he was. That was always the perfect beginning to a day.

Then, from noon to sunset, after a quick lunch, it was Jareth's "game" time. How he spent these hours was always to be determined based on what he felt like doing, and so every day it was different. On one day, he'd feel like touring the labyrinth, to see firsthand if what his subjects had informed him of previously was true, and making sure to punish any who lied. On another day, he could very well feel like playing croquet, and thus would host a tournament—which he would always win, naturally. Then, on one of his more "off" days, he might just stay inside all day, lock himself up in his library, and read for hours on end, refusing to come out even to attend dinner.

This latter possibility, however, occurred very rarely, because after dinner usually came Jareth's balls, and he _loved_ those. Sometimes hundreds of his upper-class citizens would crowd his castle and his ballrooms, usually in lavish gowns and masks (because he loved masquerades most of all), and would dance as late as dawn. Recently though, Jareth had taken to dismissing his guests promptly at midnight, shutting the castle doors in their faces after a casual apology, and spending his last few hours before dawn, alone in contemplation. Because, you see, recently something had _upset_ the Goblin King, and he was in a prolonged bad mood as a result.

About a week after the said _something_ —his failure to transform a mere human baby into a goblin, or, even worse, failed to trap or capture the heart of the simple human girl who had come looking for him—Jareth could be found sitting in his throne room looking rather stoic, during a time which he would otherwise spend out in his kingdom or at least in his library, _not_ sulking in his throne room. There was a prominent frown on the Goblin King's face, a sure sign of his displeasure that made the usual lounging goblins stay away. Only one goblin, his chancellor, Grizzald Badbreath III, dared to come near.

"Your Majesty?" he greeted with a bow, keeping his eyes on Jareth as he did so. He too was afraid of getting either kicked or cursed, but he knew that, for his fellow goblins, he had to be strong and finally confront their king.

"Yes, what is it?" Jareth addressed the goblin, not bothering to look at him, but instead continuing to look into one of the small crystal orbs that he always carried, as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. The Goblin King was doing that quite often these days, although no one dared to question him.

"T-there h-has been a n-new development in the labyrinth, r-recently, and I-I thought you should k-know about it," Grizzald managed to stammer, clearing his throat more than once throughout his short speech.

"What sort of development?" Jareth asked, not sounding even vaguely interested.

"A-a disturbance, Y-your Majesty."

Now, suddenly _this_ had Jareth's attention. There were many differences between a 'development' and a 'disturbance', after all. A 'development' could mean a good thing, like the Fiereys had finally stopped trying to dismember each other, or that the Junk Creatures were finally going to clean up their city, or even that someone had finally managed to make a decent pie using the plants from the Bog of Eternal Stench. Really, it could mean a lot of things. A 'disturbance', however, usually only meant one thing: that someone was going to be causing trouble for him, and he just couldn't have _that_.

"What disturbance?"

Grizzald nodded again, this time rather clumsily, meaning that he was nervous. "S-sire, i-it's Hoggle. H-he's left the labyrinth."

"What?! I never banished that traitor out of the labyrinth!" Jareth snarled.

"Y-yes, I k-know, sire. B-but, it appears that he's e-escaped, regardless."

Jareth groaned in frustration. "I should have banished that traitor to the Bog of Eternal Stench! He got lucky the first time, but I doubt that he'll be so lucky a second time. Cursing him wasn't enough, now he'll pay dearly for leaving without my permission!"

Grizzald hesitated to mention that Hoggle's job actually involved him to be _outside_ the labyrinth, spraying the Labyrinth Fairies, but he sensed that he wasn't the time. Instead, he cleared his throat and prepared to give Jareth the worst of the news. "There's something else, sire."

"What?" Jareth demanded, by now already standing up and preparing to head down to one of his libraries to research a new, more horrible curse to cast on Hoggle, whom he now considered deserved a worse punishment than before.

"H-he's gone up to the human world. T-to the girl from before: Sarah."

Jareth's eyes widened, shock, a weak emotion, showing on his face despite any of his will to stop it. _Sarah_. That girl, that mortal little girl who had foiled his plans last time. The very reason for his failure and recent bad mood, the only prize he'd ever truly coveted and yet lost. First, he'd gotten rid of her baby brother as per _her_ personal request, only to have her challenge him and then defy him continuously as she made it through his labyrinth. Then, upon their final confrontation, as an added stab to his pride, after he had offered himself heart and soul to her, she had still refused him, thus freeing both herself and her brother from his world. It was more than any Goblin King should be made to bear.

And now she was back.

At first, Jareth contemplated going to meet both her and Hoggle and then, after he made sure that they knew that it was always _he_ who would get the last laugh, he would submit them to a fate even _worse_ than the Bog of Eternal Stench! Really, he would do what he should have done the first time, and that was to get rid of the girl and Hoggle, making sure that no one would _ever_ defy him again! But then he paused, remembering one small detail about Sarah's return back into the human world, when he had made it so that the girl would feel as though it was all a dream, and thus would be less likely to remember it all. The only way that Hoggle could have made it to the human world on his own would have been through a wish and, if he had ended up where Sarah was, that meant that it was _she_ who made the wish. Meaning, in other words, that she didn't remember _anything_ about who he was and what he had almost done to her baby brother.

His eyes lighting up with another brilliant idea, Jareth clapped once. "Ha!"

"S-sire?" Grizzald fidgeted nervously.

Jareth glared down at him. "Grizzald, this is an order: make sure they get back into the labyrinth. And, once there, disguise yourself and see if you can't find out what they're up to. Then report back to me as soon as that's done."

Grizzald bowed. "As my king commands." He was just beginning to head out of the throne room to complete his assigned task, when suddenly Jareth stopped him again with one last instruction.

"Oh, and Grizzald? Make certain you do not fail me, for if you do, the consequences will be dire."

Grizzald gulped and gave another clumsy bow. "O-of course, sire."

* * *

 **Author's Note : Yay, I'm so glad I got another chapter in today! And now in this one, as you know, I've _finally_ reintroduced our famous Goblin King! Yeah, at first I was considering waiting a few chapters before inserting him into the story, but then I thought that it might get too boring if we only focused on Sarah and Hoggle and not on…well, the best character in the entire original movie! So yeah, David Bowie's officially here again, and will be around in the chapters to come (as long as I keep thinking up fun ways to incorporate him).**

 **Anyways, to conclude, as always, reviews/follows/favourites are appreciated. 3**


	3. Chapter 3 - Grizzald's Message

**Author's Note : Yay, I'm so glad I got another chapter in today! And now in this one, as you know, I've** _ **finally**_ **reintroduced our famous Goblin King! Yeah, at first I was considering waiting a few chapters before inserting him into the story, but then I thought that it might get too boring if we only focused on Sarah and Hoggle and not on…well, the best character in the entire original movie! So yeah, David Bowie's officially here again, and will be around in the chapters to come (as long as I keep thinking up fun ways to incorporate him).**

 **Anyways, to conclude, as always, reviews/follows/favourites are appreciated. 3**

 **Author's Note: So…I don't know how well fanfictions usually do at the beginning, but to me it seems that what I've got so far for this fanfiction is pretty good. I'm so glad that people are liking it so far, and I can only hope for more new fans in the near future! Here's hoping that I've also got the characters' roles down correctly, since I do want this to be at least semi-realistic. Yep. Well, enjoy another chapter!~**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Grizzald's Message**

Sarah didn't know a thing about the labyrinth, although she had already determined quickly enough that she didn't like the labyrinth _fairies_ , one of them having bit her as soon as she came near enough to touch it. Hoggle had reacted with a chuckle, muttering something that sounded like "Just like last time," and then they had moved on.

Once inside the labyrinth, Sarah couldn't say she liked it any more than the fairies on the outside. She felt like a mouse trapped in a maze, the walls around her tall, unending, and imposing, like a puzzle that she was supposed to try and solve, but with consequences. At the beginning, there were only two direct pathways, one right and one left, both of them looking as though they'd be difficult to navigate through, what with thorns and vines and various other forms of plantation littering the ground. But Hoggle, who seemed to know what he was doing and where he was going, had led them down the path to the right until eventually they came to a narrow opening in the wall. Hoggle had crawled through this opening with ease, although Sarah, being larger, had a bit more difficulty squeezing through. Once out on the other side however, she began to regret their choice of direction, seeing that the labyrinth _was_ in fact as confusing as it had looked from a distance. In front of her were five pathways in five different directions to choose from, but all of them looked exactly the same: dull, stony, and as if they led nowhere. Hoggle chose the fourth path from the right, confidently striding forward as though following a string of thread or something that Sarah just couldn't see. Finally, after some time had passed, they came to another opening off the side of the path, this one showcasing nine different pathways to choose from, aside from the one they had just come from.

Hoggle stopped and looked around them, scratching his head. "Should be this way…" he muttered, trying to act casual about it.

Sitting down on a nearby bolder, Sarah looked into Hoggle's face, for they were now at the same height, and furrowed her brow in frustration. "This isn't getting us anywhere!" she complained, messaging her ankle that had gotten caught in a vine earlier on. "Every path looks the same, how can you tell your way around?" The truth was, she too could sense that Hoggle was getting confused, and she didn't like the feeling one bit of not being sure where they were, or even being sure that Hoggle was sure, based on how the dwarf was now looking bath and forth between the paths as though watching a Ping-Pong game.

"I just can, ok?" Hoggle growled, taking another look. "I've been in here a hundred times, and it's always the same way, but this time the path seems to be changing. I don't know why."

Sarah suddenly became alert. "Are you serious? So you _don't_ know which way we're going?"

Hoggle looked at her sheepishly. "Well, not _exactly_ as good as before, but I still know—"

"You know nothing, Hoggle," came a raspy voice, startling both of them and making Sarah stand up in alarm. Then, from the third path from the left, a short figure came walking towards them, only, as he got closer, Sarah quickly determined that he was not a dwarf like Hoggle. It was also short, but not as squat, and had a long, pointy nose, not a fat one like Hoggle's. His eyes were beady, though not unfriendly, and he had pointed ears and almost no hair at all. He was also dressed in an embroidered vest and velvet pantaloons and wore no shoes, but regardless looked as if he was someone prestigious and important. The way he eyed them seemed to suggest that he had quite a high opinion of himself as well.

"Grizzald!" exclaimed Hoggle, suddenly very stiff, his eyes wide.

The goblin—for it was a goblin—smiled, revealing a set of sharp yellow teeth, and bowed particularly to Sarah as he greeted them formally. "Indeed, I am _Sir_ Grizzald Badbreath III, chancellor to our beloved Goblin King: His Majesty, Jareth. I come bearing a message for _you_ , Hoggle, and, of course, for our lovely new guest." He nodded to Sarah, eyeing her up and down.

Sarah squirmed uncomfortably, but Hoggle stepped forward. "You stay away from her! What's Jareth want with her, anyway?"

"Now, now, no need to get testy about it," Grizzald apprehended, wagging his finger at the dwarf. "I simply want to communicate a message; that is all." Then, to Sarah: "Our King bids to welcome to his labyrinth, milady, and wishes to let you know that, should you wish to arrive at his castle faster than you would with this useless dwarf as your guide, you need only call upon him and he shall provide you a special escort. After all, he would like for your stay here to be pleasant and entertaining."

Sarah blinked uncertainly, looking from Grizzald to Hoggle, who still stood very much at attention, somewhat scared of the goblin, it seemed. "Uh, tell him 'thank you', but that I'm fine with Hoggle as my guide."

Grizzald gave another bow. "As you wish?"

"And what about the message for me?" Hoggle piped up apprehensively.

Grizzald eyes him coolly, dropping his smile. "He said, and I quote: 'You ungrateful, imbecilic traitor! Come anywhere near my castle or ever leave the labyrinth again, and I'll see to it that you end up in worse places than the Bog of Eternal Stench! Remember: your days are numbered!' Naturally, he hopes that you'll understand."

Hoggle gulped, while Sarah stared on wide-eyed, unsure of how the same person could have issued a message so pleasant and then…something that sounded more or less like a death threat. She glanced down at Hoggle for one moment to see how he would react, but in that moment Grizzald chose to disappear, and when Sarah looked back up again, he was gone.

"Hogw—Hoggle?" she asked uncertainly, preparing to lean down and touch the dwarf's shoulder to rouse him.

"I'm alright," Hoggle assured her gruffly. "I'm fine. Just that Jareth thinks he's so tough that…well, be best get going, anyway. Long way until we get where we're headed, you know."

"Where exactly are we headed?" Sarah asked, deciding to forget about her encounter with Grizzald, since she'd already decided not to accept Jareth's 'invitation'.

"The Great Library," Hoggle said significantly, and then led them towards the path furthest to the right. Sarah had no idea what exactly they might encounter next, but at least she knew to avoid the third path to the left if they ever found themselves at the same crossroads again.

* * *

"Did you deliver the message?" Jareth asked as soon as he sensed Grizzald's presence just outside the entrance to his throne room.

"Y-yes, M-majesty," Grizzald practically squeaked, after he deemed it safe to enter. Just this news already seemed to put his master in a better mood though, making it safe for the goblin to venture closer to the throne.

"Good work, then," Jareth replied casually, yet again taking out another one of his magic balls and toying around with it. Grizzald, like many, knew that these were, in many ways, the source of their master's powers, and something he would never allow anyone else to touch. Of course, he had given two of them to Sarah, one as a gift when they'd first met, and the other as a poisoned peach that had sent her into a world of dreams. The third one, the one that he'd tried to offer in order to trap her in the goblin world, she'd refused, a grave insult in itself, and ever since then Jareth had been more protective over them than ever before. Everyone figured that he probably had thousands of the balls in store somewhere, but that didn't matter. Like every child was precious to its mother, like every breath of air was precious to life: that was how precious each and every ball was to Jareth.

"I am m-much honoured by Your Majesty's favour," Grizzald said with a grin. "Anything for you, sir, anytime."

"Good, then perhaps you wouldn't mind to run another little errand for me," Jareth suggested, his eyes still on the ball he was balancing.

"M-my lord?"

Sniffing, Jareth began to roll the ball around on the back of his hand, as usual completing a series of gravity-defying motions with it. "I want you to follow them, the girl and Hobbit—"

"Er, it's Hoggle, sir," Grizzald said.

"What?" Jareth snapped, turning to face him at last. Only, unlike most times when it would have been a great honour to be regarded by Jareth, Grizzald deeply regretted it, since this time it was in anger.

"N-nothing, Majesty, only his name's Hoggle, not Hobbit," Grizzald said in barely a mumble, staring down ashamedly at the ground. The only reason he bothered to correct Jareth at all was not because he had a death with or anything, but because he remembered how often people had gotten his name wrong, calling him "Grizzly Bear" or "Gerald" or something like that, and how it was really the only thing to upset him. Even when people called him simply "Badbreath" and assumed he had bad breath as well it didn't bother him, since it was better than having his name mistaken altogether, but otherwise he prepared to be addressed correctly—he could only assume that Hoggle would appreciate it as well, whether he was the enemy or not.

Jareth stared at him silently for a few minutes, as though contemplating what manner of death would be the worst one to inflict upon him and then, strangely, smiled. "I see that you are in good humor today," he commented.

"M-majesty?"

"Continue that way, and you'll find yourself in the deepest darkest dungeon come nightfall."

Grizzald gulped. It was better than getting yelled at, but, then again, it wasn't. That was the scariest thing about Jareth, now that he thought about it: his king was at his most sinister when he was unusually calm. That just about explained why he was so calm during his entire time of dealing with Sarah, but then…

"Yes, my lord. I promise it won't happen again," Grizzald vowed.

Jareth went back to toying around with his ball. "As I was saying, you're to follow them wherever they go, and report to me at any chance you get. If they do something odd, meet someone unusual, or even get too close, you're to summon me at once. The failure to do this will land you a one-way ticket to Platform 5. Understood?"

Grizzald gulped. "Perfectly, Your Majesty."

"Then go."

And, in a flash, Grizzald was gone, having hastened to follow his master's orders. Although, privately, he thought that there was no reason to have him specifically follow them. After all, with all his powers, he could see and go anywhere in the labyrinth, and not get caught! For Grizzald, getting caught was a far greater possibility. It just didn't make sense.

But, then it occurred to the goblin that there might be some other reason for having him follow around the mortal girl and the traitorous dwarf. And, although he had no idea what this other reason could be, he did know that Jareth was using him, and purposely not telling him. Was this all a part of some more sinister plan, perhaps?

If so, the goblin didn't want to know about it. It was bad enough that he was being sent on two errands out of the day, neither of them following his initial job description of 'chancellor', so the last thing he needed was to know that he was being employed as a common puppet as well.

Although, it sounded like just the thing that Jareth would do.

* * *

 **Author's Note : Oh, I'm sorry for the shorter chapter on this one, but, looking back, there really wasn't all that much to happen, aside from Grizzald being tossed around back and forth. I guess that the OCs are the ones getting tortured in this, I guess, but it's better than having any harm come to Hoggle. Yet.**

 **As to the mention of 'Platform 5', that will be explained perhaps much later in the book, but keep it in the back of your mind, okay? Hopefully it'll be another good little creative idea of mine as an addition to the story.**

 **Next chapter, which is when Sarah and Hoggle with arrive at 'The Great Library', should be longer than this, for sure, but, sadly, and just as a heads-up, I'm not sure how much of Jareth I can include in it. Again, he'll definitely be prominent in the later chapters to come, but, just like in the movie, I'll be focusing on more of Sarah's adventures near the very beginning.**

 **If anyone's beginning to wonder about other original _Labyrinth_ characters like Ludo and Sir Didymus, they'll also be present, but just…not yet. Everyone's patience will pay off though, I promise!**

 **Reviews/follows/favourites, anyone? :)**


	4. Chapter 4 - The Path to the Great Librar

**Author's Note : Ok, so in this chapter, finally, I've decided to change things up just a bit, with regards to Hoggle's curse. Now, at first I thought that just one curse would be annoying enough for him, but then I started to wonder just how far I could go with that as the conflict. I wasn't sure if it was too early to introduce a conflict, maybe, so I was going to hold it off for a while. But now, instead, I've decided that this opportunity with the new location of the "Great Library" would be just too good to pass up, and so I've decided to get a bit deeper into plot (already). I hope no one mind's this though, because it's not exactly going to be a climactic moment or anything, but I hope you still like it and won't think it's too extreme, considering we're just on Chapter 4…**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – The Path to the Great Library**

When Sarah had first started off on her new mission with Hoggle, she knew that she was taking a huge leap of faith in believing him and taking everything that he said at face value. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt though, because they were meant to be friends, and friends trusted each other. Trying her hardest, she hadn't questioned him on making it to the labyrinth through her parents' bathtub drainpipe; she hadn't been wary or suspicious of Hoggle leading her through a seemingly impossible-to-navigate maze; she hadn't even turned against him when an alternative was offered to her from Grizzald; all these things, she thought, made her quite trustworthy.

However, Hoggle refused to divulge the exact whereabouts of the location he had in mind, or what exactly he hoped to even find at the Great Library. Sarah had asked him continuously after they had departed from the goblin earlier on, insisting, begging, fake-crying, and even threatening, but still Hoggle had kept his mouth shut, each time muttering a "We're almost there", and leaving it at that. Sarah was forced to give up in the end, determining that the dwarf could be really tough when he wanted to be. In truth, what she didn't know was that, in order to tell her about the specifics of the Great Library, Hoggle would have to mention Jareth and what he did and why the Great Library was the only place where they could find the solution to the problem; but, because of the curse, he couldn't do just that.

 _Damn you, Jareth,_ he thought, satisfied to know that at least his _thoughts_ were safe from the Goblin King. But that was as far as he could really revolt against him. After all, the dwarf would have liked nothing more than to tell Sarah all about Jareth and just how _much_ he was being punished after betraying the Goblin King, but that was impossible. It hadn't occurred to Hoggle to question why until now, but, now that he thought about it, why _had_ Jareth punished him so much, especially with that curse of remaining silent? He had punished everyone who'd helped Sarah, the only way to wreck his vengeance, but out of everyone, Hoggle had gotten the worst end of it.

 _It must be because she kissed me before,_ Hoggle remembered, blushing slightly at the thought. _He wasn't none too happy about that the first time either…_ Still though, it was rather petty of the Goblin King to focus so much on that one aspect, even if he _was_ jealous, which Hoggle thought he must be. After all, Jareth was King of Goblins—what more could he want in life?

 _And, because he's sent Grizzald, he definitely knows that Sarah's here,_ the dwarf continued, lost in thoughts all by himself, but still equally focused as he turned another corner through the elaborate labyrinth. He could hear Sarah's steps right behind him, feel her hand brush against his scalp every time he stopped and she wasn't ready for it. Yes, they were friends and that had brought him nothing but trouble the first time, and yet he was still drawn to her. What was it—her kindness? Her youth? Her courage? Or was it the fact that Hoggle had never had any friends before and Sarah, being his first, could never be replaced in his heart?

But Jareth didn't want him to have any friendship, didn't want him to feel that same warmth from before. That was why he had blocked off Hoggle's bad speech about him; that was why Hoggle had a worse curse on him than the one he had mentioned to Sarah, a curse that, if broken, might have more consequences than the Goblin Kingdom had ever known. The curse in itself was unspeakable, but one thing was certain: Jareth's wrath ran deep.

"Are we there yet?" Sarah whined for the thousandth time, now contemplating what she would do if Hoggle still refused to answer her, at least give her some sort of clue. She could sense that the dwarf was hiding something from her, but because she was certain that she still didn't know him all that well, part of her wondered if maybe it wasn't only her imagination and she was only being paranoid.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, we're almost there," Hoggle said, nodding and proceeding onward.

"You said that the last time, and the time before that, and the time before _that_ ," Sarah pointed out. "I feel like we're getting nowhere, Hogwart"—" _Hoggle!_ "—"and more so, I think that you're lost! You don't know where you're going, do you?"

Hoggle sighed heavily, turning to face her at last. "Look here Sarah, I've been this way a hundred times! I know this path and I know where we're—"

"Then why aren't we there yet?" Sarah asked, placing her hands on her hips.

Hoggle ran his hand over his face. "If I told you we were going to arrive once we turn the next corner, would you trust me?"

Sarah crossed her arms. "I don't see why I should: you haven't been very honest with me so far."

"What do you mean I haven't?" Hoggle snapped.

"Well, for starters you haven't told me anything about why this curse of yours is so important. Ok, I know it has something to do with the Goblin King, but you still haven't even told me _why_ he's important, or _why_ he's cursed you!"

"No, but I've told you why I can't tell you! The curse won't let me!"

"Oh, Hogwart, that's getting us nowhere then!" Sarah huffed. "Fine! Can you at least tell me what we're going to find at the library?"

Hoggle raised a short arm and pointed at the next turn. "You'll see the library as you turn the next corner yourself. I promise."

Sarah blinked, then relaxed her posture, turning to look at the path ahead of her. "And…you want me to go first?"

"If you want," Hoggle said, but by the way he looked at her, it was obvious that he hoped she'd offer to go first.

Sarah nodded. "Alright then, I will. But you'll be right behind me, won't you?"

Hoggle tried not to give anything away, although inwardly, he grimaced. "'Course I will."

"Ok."

So said, Sarah turned and approached the wall of the labyrinth, taking a deep breath and then crossing through the final corner. What she saw before her eyes was a temple-like building with a large, bronze lion in the middle of the front steps, blocking a doorway that led beyond. It was a large, imposing structure, one that didn't look at all stable, but wasn't so bad overall. The sky seemed to have darkened around it, although it had plenty of torchlight so that its visitors could still see. For a moment, Sarah felt herself as though walking through the void of space, but then as her foot made contact with the first step, everything felt solid once more and the empty feeling from before was gone.

"Hoggle, we've made it!" she cried, getting his name right for once. But as she turned to look behind her, she realized that Hoggle was no longer there.

* * *

"You're a big coward, you know that Hoggle?"

"Go away!" the miserable dwarf moaned, clutching his head. "I'm not in the mood for this!"

"Oh, but you'd deserve it if she never spoke to you again, if she decided to leave you and the labyrinth forever. I'm sure that Master Jareth will _not_ be pleased, now that he knows what you're up to."

"I-I had no choice! He _gave me no choice_!" Hoggle yelled, certain that Sarah could no longer hear him. He had already run away from her, after all, leaving her to figure out the mysteries of the library for herself. It was the only way, after all, the only way to break his second curse, the worst one yet: by having a mortal, a _friend_ , willingly find the answer to his curse herself, without any of his help or interference. That was why he couldn't say anything to Sarah about it, even without mentioning Jareth; _that_ was why he had to run away and leave her alone. The curse just…wouldn't be broken otherwise…

"You've always had a choice, Hoggle. You could just have gone back, taken Jareth's first merciful offer; he wouldn't have cursed you then. Just the first curse…at first he thought that it'd be enough, but then you went ahead and refused to let him—"

"Steal my memories of Sarah?! _Never_!" Hoggle yelled. Seemingly, he was talking to himself, almost going crazy, when, in truth, Grizzald was just speaking to him from the shadows, his voice ever low, ever calm.

"That would have saved you a lot of trouble," Grizzald said, and he sounded like he was tsking. "As your King, after you betrayed him, he didn't really ask for much."

"But, if he took those away, I wouldn't have anything left…" mourning Hoggle.

Grizzald stuck out a bony hand, making it visible to the dwarf. "Let's go back and review, shall we? One,"—he raised up one bony finger—"you get summoned to the Goblin Castle and His Majesty curses you to eternal silence regarding talking against him in any way or form. Two,"—he raised up another finger—"he offers you stewardship in his castle, in exchange for those memories you have of spending time with the girl. You know as well as I do that our King is powerful, but even _he_ cannot take things from the heart unless they are willingly given. But then, three,"—and he raised up his last finger (because he only had three in total, like a carnivorous bird's claw)—"you refuse him even that, and thus get yourself cursed a second time, this curse unspeakable, and unbreakable."

" _Almost_ unbreakable," Hoggle corrected. "Sarah can break it."

"Yes, and now that he know that that's exactly what you're trying to do, he'll never allow it," Grizzald said, pulling his hand back into the shadows. "For, if she manages to succeed in breaking your curse, not only will you be free from both of the curses put upon you, and not only will the girl regain her memory, but the entire protection spell around the Goblin Kingdom will wear thin, and before you know it, we'll be at war again."

Hoggle harrumphed. "It's not _my_ fault that such a strong spell needed sacrifices. It was Jareth's choice to include a three-part clause to it."

"Only because he was certain that you would never ever manage to get anyone to help you, and because he didn't think the girl stupid enough to make yet _another_ wish to him. Because she did, however, and because something, no one's sure what, went wrong and _you_ got the call of the wish instead, apparently, as it seems, you're one step closer to being free. But, just remember, Hoggle, Jareth is still the King, and has many tricks up his sleeve."

"I'll bet," Hoggle muttered. "But he can't touch Sarah so long as she's in the library!"

"Of course not," Grizzald said, his eerie yellow-toothed grin peeking out from the darkness. "But wait until she comes out…"

Hoggle's eyes widened as he realized the flaw to his plan. Oh no…

* * *

Sarah was no coward, or at least she hoped not, so she was no exactly 'afraid' to go into the big, ominous library by herself. She _was_ however, hurt and betrayed that Hoggle had betrayed _her_ in the first place. After all, the only reason she had come along at all was to help him with his stupid curse, and because…

"Because I thought we were friends…" she muttered, squinting her eyes in anger and discomfort.

 _"I haven't asked my question yet, so don't you start answering!"_ came a deep, booming voice from somewhere above her.

Sarah looked up, seeing no one in sight, nor any sudden movement. "Ex-excuse me?"

 _"Now, wait just a minute, I've almost got one,"_ the voice said again, only this time, Sarah saw where it was coming from. The lion, the one on the front stairs, guarding the doorway to the library, had just spoken, his brow, naturally furrowed, now somehow showcasing a thoughtful expression.

"Question? No one ever told me that I'd have to answer a question to get in!" Sarah called up.

 _"Well, it's called the_ Great _Library for a reason, you know!" the lion exclaimed indignantly. "That means we can't just let everyone in, so you'll have to answer my question if you want to enter."_

Sarah bit her bottom lip in frustration. "I'm not so sure that I even _want_ to enter anymore…"

The lion stared down at her quizzically. _"Why not? That's why you're here, isn't it? Or is this just the ideal way to take a stroll nowadays, but no one told me about it?"_

Sarah shook her head. "It's not like that."

 _"Then what is it like?" the lion pressed, sounding curious. "Tell me, and I may just let you inside, instead of asking you a question and whatnot. Isn't often that I get people with interesting stories come through here, so I'll make an exception, just this once."_

Sarah thought that the lion was being more than reasonable, but that didn't mean that she was ready to go on with her quest, not after Hoggle had abandoned her. Besides, how could she help him anyway, if he wasn't here to at least give her a hint as to what sort of solutions she was looking for. A potion? A magic spell? If so, then what kind of magic spell should she use? Would it have something to do with disgusting things like slime or snails, or maybe something unexpected like puppy dog tails? It was all too uncertain, and Sarah was about to turn back, but then the lion called out to her.

 _"I wouldn't, if I were you. It's not safe to leave right now."_

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

 _"Because no one ever comes to visit and library and then just_ leaves _, without even_ trying _to answer my question! I don't even know what happens, but some rumors have gone around that there's a booby-trap set, or something!"_

Sarah was about to retort that she just didn't care, but she couldn't very well get back through the labyrinth and back home if she was caught in a booby-trap, could she? "Fine then, I'm here to find a cure to a curse for a…a dwarf I just met," she said. "But he hasn't really explained anything to me about _why_ we're coming to this library, only that he's under a curse that won't allow him to say something, and that we'll find answers in here. We've been travelling through the labyrinth all day, met a goblin named Grizzald, who made me an offer from the Goblin King, and now here I am, telling you the story of why I'm here."

 _"A dwarf? Well, there are no laws against dwarves coming here; why isn't he with you?"_

"You said you wanted my story, not for me to answer all your questions," Sarah reminded the lion. "I gave you my reason for being here, so now I get to pass, right?"

The lion gave a deep rumble from somewhere in his bronze chest. _"I suppose…"_ he said. _"But I'm still curious!"_

"Well, I'm sorry," Sarah apologized, "but I don't have the time to stick around and chat."

Thus spoken, she waited for the lion to move aside and open up a path to the door for her or something, but when the lion didn't move, she looked up in confusion.

The lion sighed. _"You're supposed to walk_ through _me. I'm only solid when I want to be, but I always become walk-through when people answer the questions I give them."_

Sarah nodded, walking right up to the lion and trying to place her hand through at first, just to be sure. When she saw that it was ok, she stuck in a leg as well, about to walk through and finally see what all the fuss was about regarding the library. "I'll see you later," she said to the lion, hoping to somehow make it up to him later on.

" _Goodbye."_

And thus Sarah was gone, entering into the library and into a mission which she didn't even know she was a part of.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Ok, so I know that maybe Hoggle's part of this chapter was a bit confusing, so, just as a recap, here's what happened:**

 **1) Hoggle got cursed the _first_ time for betraying Jareth, and the curse involved him never being able to say a single bad word about Jareth, and that includes pretty much everything that happened in the movie, so he can't tell Sarah about that.**

 **2) Jareth then asked him for his memories about Sarah, which I figure he would've kept in one of his glass balls or something, but Hoggle refused.**

 **3) Because Hoggle refused, Jareth got angry and cursed him again, this time with a curse that's much _worse_ , but which I haven't revealed the specifics of, regarding what it does it Hoggle. The only thing that the readers are supposed to know so far is that if Sarah manages to break this second curse, then she'll: A) break both curses on Hoggle, B) get her memory back, and C) destroy the protective spells and barriers around the Goblin Kingdom and labyrinth, sending them into a war. Now, this part is the most confusing, I know, but that's because no one knows who the war might be against, or why, or etc. etc. etc. There's a lot to be explained here, but that's why the plot thickens, right?**

 **Now, again, I feel like I've tossed a _lot_ at you in this chapter, so if you've got any questions, please feel free to include them in the reviews. Other than that, favourite and follows are greatly appreciated, as always, and I look forward to hearing from you until the next chapter. ^^**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Librarian and Her Assist

**Author's Note: I deeply apologize for the super-long wait on the update for this chapter, but life's gotten so busy and…just…GAH! But now that March Break's finally here, we can start getting back on track with the story and exciting new chapters ahead!**

 **Now, where we left off (for those of you who've read this far an experienced this lapse in time with me), was when Sarah finally gained entry into the library, and Hoggle just realized that Sarah might be walking into a trap as soon as she leaves the library. Now, this chapter isn't going to be as long as the previous one, but only because I'm kind of in a hurry to get Jareth back into the plot, and…yeah, you'll get what I mean by the end of the chapter. I don't suggest skipping it altogether though, because there _is_ some information that could prove crucial.**

 **Other than that though, just enjoy. ^^~**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – The Librarian and Her Assistant**

At first, the light in the library was so dim and the air was so thick and musky, that Sarah didn't really see much aside from shadows. The building was solid brick, seemingly the same as the bricks used to build the labyrinth, and so far there wasn't a single bookshelf, or even a book, in sight.

 _It's pretty eerie in here,_ Sarah thought, finding that she was trying to reference the place to her favourite book, _The Labyrinth_ , but couldn't find any mention of it there. Well, after all, the book focused mainly on a plot involving the Goblin King and the mortal girl heroine, so there wasn't much attention given to architectural details. As a matter of fact, Sarah didn't think that she could remember any mention of the library whatsoever in the book.

Taking a few more cautious steps forward, Sarah finally came to a large oak door, through which she passed without incident, only to get caught in a large, un-sticky cobweb on the other side.

"Ugh!" she exclaimed, trying to get it out of her hair.

"Who's there?" a voice rang out from within the room, which resembled some sort of lobby, lit only by dim lamps on the walls, the chandelier above covered in cobwebs and dust and not lit at all.

"I-I'm Sarah. I'm here to find some information about a curse?"

"Who let you in?" the voice demanded, resonating off the walls and making it impossible for Sarah to find the source of the voice.

"The lion statue out front," Sarah replied.

"You answered the riddle?" The voice sounded surprised.

Well, it technically wasn't a _riddle_ that Sarah answered, but it wouldn't do her any good to specify that. She nodded.

"Well then, you must be smart," the voice commended.

"Thank y—"

"Or just desperate. Either-or usually gets you in—the lion up front is a big softie for sob stories."

"Excuse me, but just who are you?"

"The librarian, naturally."

"But… _where_ are you?"

There was a slight breeze in the room, followed by what sounded like a heavy exhale. "Technically, I guess you could say that I'm more the _spirit_ of the library. I take no physical form, and am confined specifically to this room and the shelves beyond. I cannot leave."

"I'm sorry."

"No need to be—books are knowledge and they can satisfy me for an eternity and all that. The only problem is, I've read every book in this place already, and it does get a bit boring to have to repeat Plato's teachings over and over again in your head, no matter how good they are. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have a fresh new book! You wouldn't happen to have one with you, would you?"

"No, sorry."

"Pity." Another breath of air and then another sigh. "But, I suppose that new visitors are exciting enough. Now, you said that you were looking for information on a curse?"

"Yes. You see, my f—a dwarf named Hoggle is under a curse that doesn't allow him to speak freely, and he'd like to break it."

"I imagine he would. But what did he think he could find here, or, for that matter, why hasn't he come here himself?"

Sarah looked down, trying to ignore the feeling of hurt that had swelled up in her chest. "I don't know."

"Typical of dwarves: can't ever be trusted. Well, very well. If you'll be doing research on curses in general, just look down the fortieth aisle to the left. If you need any help, I've got a new assistant around here somewhere—he's pretty worthless in general, too high-and-mighty for his own good, if you ask me, and wastes time sulking half the day and all, but he's better than nothing."

Sarah wondered why the librarian didn't just offer to help her herself (it sounded like a female, if she had to guess), but then figured that this must've been one of those "must figure it out for yourself" sort of things.

Steadily, she carried on, crossing the room and going through yet another set of doors, this time careful not to get caught in cobwebs or anything.

The room she entered was beyond enormous, stretching on what seemed like forever, with aisles and aisles and aisles of books stretching all the way up to the ceiling. There seemed to be windows letting in sunshine at the right side of the room, but since Sarah was headed for the left side, she had to content herself with the dim lamplight.

She walked slowly, making sure to count the aisles she passed so as not to get the wrong number (they weren't labelled, so she had to do this), and then finally came to the fortieth one. This aisle was just as dimly lit as the rest, and was, surprisingly, mostly empty. Out of what should have been presumably at least a thousand books along down the long aisle, it seemed that maybe only about a hundred and fifty or so were still present. There were charred burn marks in some places on the shelves, and on others, they were just bare and empty. Sarah wondered what could have happened to clear out the shelves of so many books.

"Some look like they were burned, while others might've been stolen," she deciphered.

"Correct, my dear!" came a small-sounding voice from behind her, between breaths.

Sarah turned to see a dusty yet elegantly-dressed fox-terrier before her, eyeing her up and down and smiling like he knew her. "Hello there!" he called.

Not at all surprised to see an animal talking, since she knew that the labyrinth was magical and all, Sarah inclined her head in greeting. "Hello."

"It is an honour to finally see you again, after all this time! Well, not really that long a time, I suppose, but it is certainly good to see you!" the fox-terrier said.

Again, Sarah was confused as to how this person seemed to already know her, but she didn't have time to argue and find out. Instead, she just made an offhand assumption. "Are you the assistant librarian?"

The fox-terrier sighed. "Yes milady—Sir Didymus, gallant knight and warrior, has been reduced to nothing more than a librarian's assistant. After being separated from you, His Majesty, King Jareth, has separated me from my precious Ambrosius as well, giving us each separate jobs. He, lucky lad, is still guarding the bridge in the Bog of Eternal Stench, while I, far from my home, must suffer humiliation and all around disagreeable-ness from the librarian who runs this place. It is most unbecoming, Lady Sarah, most unbecoming indeed."

"I'm sorry," Sarah said, wondering at the misfortune of the people in this place.

Sir Didymus shrugged. "Well, perhaps things will get better now that you're back. How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a book on…how to break curses, I guess," Sarah said. "But I guess that there isn't much left to go on, is there." She gestured at the near-empty shelves around them.

"Alas, there was never much here to begin with," Sir Didymus said. "This is exactly as I found the library, so I would not know what happened to the rest of the books. You see, I am still an apprentice here myself, so I do not know where to find any specific books."

"Oh."

"I can, however, show you a book about 'light magic', which will help you conquer dark and evil magic. Do you think that might help?"

"It will have to," Sarah agreed.

"Good! This way then, please."

And thus, with Sir Didymus scampering by right in front of her, Sarah followed him to the end of the library and down the aisle that was the darkest and eeriest. Sarah could've sworn that the temperature itself had dropped, and was getting rather cold, but Sir Didymus seemed confident in where he was going, so she followed. At the very end of the aisle, he climbed up the ladder to the very top, and came down later holding a book with a beautiful white binding that didn't seem as though it belonged in that aisle at all.

"Here you are!" he announced proudly, presenting it to Sarah.

Sarah squinted as she opened it and tried to read the index, but it was too dark and the text was too small for her to make out anything. Gesturing to Sir Didymus, they went back down the aisle, to the main one in the middle of the library, and there, under a lamp, Sarah began to read.

"'How to Find Your Own Magic', 'Antidotes to Dead Poisons', 'How to Conquer the Darkest of Dark Magic'…there isn't anything in here about breaking a curse," Sarah concluded.

"Well, of course not!" Sir Didymus remarked. "That book won't specify small things like that—it focuses on the 'big picture', if you know what I mean."

"I don't think it can help me," Sarah said, closing it.

"Take it with you anyway," Sir Didymus insisted. "You never know when you might need it."

Sarah obeyed, but only because she wasn't sure how things worked around there, and figured that at least she could tell Hoggle that she had _tried_ — _if_ he was still around, that is.

After saying goodbye to Sir Didymus, who looked upset to see her go, and then bidding farewell to the librarian, without actually mentioning that she was taking a book out of the library with her, Sarah made her way past the front lobby and outside onto the steps of the library. She was surprised that the lion was before was nowhere to be found, but maybe one could only see him when they tried to get _in_ to the library, not out.

Shrugging, Sarah descended the steps until she came back to plain, solid earth once more, and then, figuring that she was officially outside, started to call out for Hoggle.

When no response came, she shifted uncomfortably, wondering if the dwarf wanted her to find him a little ways off or something.

"Hoggle!" she called, getting his name right for once. "Hoggle, where are you?!"

"He isn't here."

"W-what do you mean?" Sarah asked, feeling chills crawl up her spine as she heard an eerie voice speak closer to her than all the others that she had heard so far. "Where is he?"

"He ran away, coward that he is. You should never have trusted him," the voice purred.

Sarah, not knowing, but _feeling_ where the voice was coming from, turned around.

And came face to face with none other than Jareth himself.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** **I know, I know, _darn those cliff-hangers_! Well, sorry folks, but, like I said, and like the title of the chapter should have implied, this chapter wasn't going to focus on our beloved Goblin King as much. Next chapter though, oh-ho, you'll finally get to see how they interact! I can only hope that I do them justice. :3**

 **Please review/follow/favourite! 3**


End file.
